Thiruvananthapuram: Former minister K C Joseph has told the Crime Branch, which is probing the 2015 Assembly ruckus case, that the Opposition had deployed women MLAs around then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s seat on March 13, 2015, as part of a conspiracy to insult and assault the chief minister.

The case pertains to the violent episodes that unfolded in the Kerala Assembly on March 13, 2015, when the then Opposition LDF legislators disrupted then Finance Minister K M Mani from presenting the state budget following allegations of his role in the bar bribery case.

Seeing through the Opposition ploy, UDF MLAs Sivadasan Nair and M A Vaheed tried to protect the Chief Minister from their attack, Jospeph told the sleuths.

According to his statement, when the House was in session, the Opposition MLAs left their seats in violation of the rules and went to the ruling party bench and created a ruckus while the ruling party MLAs remained in their seats.

“The atrocities perpetrated by the Opposition were planned. All the violence took place on the Speaker's dais and the ruling party benches. Leaders, including the then Opposition leader, had announced the previous day that they would not allow Mani to present the Budget at any cost… The violence was scripted,” Joseph said in his statement.

Current Education Minister V Sivankutty, Left leaders E P Jayarajan, K T Jaleel, K Ajith, K Kunjahamad, and C K Sadasivan are the accused in the case. As per an estimate, the violence resulted in property damage to the tune of Rs 2.20 lakh.

The Crime Branch has recently decided to arraign former Congress legislators Sivadasan Nair and Vaheed as accused in the case.